Four LIRR lines suspended

FDNY responding to 5-alarm fire at recycling plant

Fire department activity adjacent to the LIRR tracks east of Jamaica Station has left the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Oyster Bay and Hempstead lines suspended.

Courtesy MTA/Twitter

How FDNY responds to a 5-alarm fire

20 engines

11 ladders

6 battalion chiefs

1 rescue

1 squad

1 deputy chief

1 RAC unit

1 satellite

safety battalion

SOC battalion

1 tactical support unit

field comm

field comm battalion

communications unit

mobile command unit

planning section chief

Air Recon Chief (on Bklyn box)

Courtesy fdnewyork.com

Last updated: 6:00 p.m.

Because of a fire east of Jamaica Station, the Long Island Rail Road suspended service in both directions on the Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Oyster Bay and Hempstead lines until further notice as of 2:30 p.m. Friday, LIRR officials reported on Twitter.

LIRR officials said that the fire would "severely impact" the rush hour commute.

The suspension they said was, “due to fire department activity adjacent to the LIRR tracks east of Jamaica Station.” “We’ll restore service as quickly as possible,” an MTA spokesman said, adding that he had no other details beyond which lines had their service interrupted.

The FDNY responded to a reports of a fire at 12:54 p.m. at Royal Waste Services, located at 187-40 Jamaica Avenue, Queens Village. According to the FDNY's official Twitter account, the source of the blaze was a "large area of outside rubbish" at a recycling plant.

The cause of the fire is unknown at this time.

As of 2:45 p.m., the blaze had escalated to a 4-alarm fire. An FDNY spokesman told the Herald then, and again at around 3:30, that it was still "very much an active scene."

At 5:51 p.m., about five hours since the initial call, there is still no indication that the fire is under control.

At around 4:10, the FDNY's Twitter account reported that the fire had progressed to 5-alarm status.

There are currently no reported injuries, and almost 200 fire department and EMS personnel, who comprise 44 units, had been dispatched to the scene.

There are several recycling plants in the vicinity, and a storage facility directly to the east of the blaze. The FDNY was unable to say whether the fire had spread to adjacent properties.